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Anthropological Fetishism in American Politics: The Source of Donald Trump's Power

Hillary Clinton simply had no magic during the past elections. Literally.

Ms. Clinton's political poster was lackluster and ridiculed for its hospital-like blandness. Donald Trump, on the other hand, managed to harness the power of the tribe, and he did so through the use of anthropological magic, namely by employing a feitiço, a fetish.

The island of Hispaniola, shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, is a place where the forces of magic compete. On one side the people practice African voodoo, and on the other indigenous Catholicism. A good leader on the island of Hispaniola understands how the two different realms of the magical spectrum interact, and harnesses them accordingly.

Joaquin Balaguer was a man who, through the cunning use of magical symbols and conspiracies, ruled the Dominican Republic until he was a blind octogenarian. Mr. Balaguer was one of the foremost intellectuals during the multi-decade dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, serving as minister of education before being selected to serve as vice-president, a role which he held when Generalissimo Trujillo was killed by CIA-trained assassins.

Although Mr. Balaguer is now dead, his political party still survives, and its symbols still endure in the Dominican conscience: the red baseball cap. Mr. Balaguer understood that when a crowd of thousands of people put on the same hat, they're not placing mere pieces of fabric on their heads, they're joining a tribe and gaining power.

Donald Trump isn't dangerous. His hat is dangerous. Donald Trump without a hat is just a North-East Republican. Donald Trump in a hat is the Commander-in-Chief, leader of the American tribe.

Although all members of the tribe may wear a hat made of the same feathers, the chief's feathered hat is more powerful, since his very status as chief is proof that his magic works.

The chief can ask a person to sacrifice their son in a war, or he can take the freedom of a member of the tribe, yet his relatives would gladly accept a hat from his hand as just recompense. Although a hat gifted by the chief is made from the same material as any other hat, the very act of it being in his possession gives it magical power.

It no longer matters what Donald Trump does or says because he has created a powerful tribal symbol which anyone can wear; and the magic of the tribe is more important than facts or actions.

If Donald Trump were to be killed in office, the last hat he wears will become an object imbued with as much magical power as the Constitution of the United States. The man who puts on the last hat of a martyred tribal chief will inherit powers greater than those the chief himself could wield.

If you're afraid of Donald Trump, you should be terrified of the man who puts on his last hat, since only magic itself will be able to bring him down... perhaps in a purple hat.